Slow Cooker Big Red Pulled Pork Sandwiches

This all-day slow cooker recipe delivers pork that’s super tender and really sweet. It’s the perfect counterbalance to vinegary coleslaw and pickles.

1 tablespoon kosher salt

2 teaspoons freshly ground black

pepper

1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin

1 ½ teaspoons smoked paprika ¾ teaspoon cayenne pepper 1 (6-pound) skinless, boneless pork

shoulder roast

1 cup Big Red soda

½ cup store-bought or homemade

barbecue sauce

8 sandwich buns

2 cups coleslaw

32 slices hamburger-sliced dill

pickles

Big Red Barbecue Sauce

1 cup store-bought or homemade

barbecue sauce

2 tablespoons (or more) Big Red

soda

Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper

(optional)

Instructions: Mix salt, black pepper, cumin, paprika and cayenne in a small bowl. Rub all over pork.

Stir soda and barbecue sauce in the slow cooker with at least a 6-quart capacity. Place the pork in slow cooker, cover and cook on low setting, spooning juices over top of pork or turning occasionally (once per hour), until meat is very tender and falls apart when shredded with 2 forks, about 8 hours.

Transfer the pork to a large baking sheet or roasting pan and let it cool slightly. Shred the pork with 2 forks or with gloved hands. Discard large pieces of unrendered fat or gristle.

Make the Big Red Barbecue Sauce. In a medium bowl, add the barbecue sauce and 2 tablespoons soda and mix. Taste and add up to 1 additional tablespoon of Big Red, depending on the desired sweetness of barbecue sauce.

Add the sauce to the pan of finished pork and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper if needed. Make sandwiches with buns, coleslaw and pickles.

Makes 8 servings

Adapted from epicurious.com

Photos by Lisa Krantz / Staff photographer